Good comments, BTW
I think this may be a great example of a politician opposing something just because it's from Bush. I could see a program like this coming just as easily from Clinton, had he been at all interested.
The Democratic Party has a long and honorable history of supporting space exploration, but in a lot of ways besides space support, it ain't Jack Kennedy's party any more.
Your point on space exploitation being one major answer to both energy and pollution problems is also worth noting. Space is the ideal place for an industrial civilization.